All

I don't have a lot of data here, but I certainly know that I have bonked plenty of times and not enjoyed skating at that moment. However, some research in the last couple of years with (not exactly) fasting has been interesting. I watched a BBC special with eebee about fasting on alternate days (named variously but lately called the 5:2 diet), but I never tried that. (Neither did I specifically try the high intensity training 3 x 20 mins per week that was in another special with the same BBC correspondent, Michael Mosley, but seriously, that's what my skating is like some weeks.) I tend to feel it's a great idea to have breakfast before and endurance event, and I guess the most often workable thing has been dried cranberries and oatmeal with enough water to undry the oatmeal and the cranberries. I also note they mention the only eat during 16 hours of the day idea I've heard lately.

So I mainly added this marker so we could comment on it. Any thoughts?

The U.S. Olympic speedskating team at the 2018 Winter Olympics has a North Carolina accent.

Long track skater Heather Bergsma and short track coach Anthony Barthell hail from High Point, N.C., while long tracker Kimani Griffin is from Winston-Salem.

The Tar Heel State isn’t known as a hotbed for ice sports. But the state has a reputation as a mecca for inline skating, which has increasingly become a key supplier of talent for the U.S. ice speedskating program.

There's quite a lot in this piece about the High Point Speed and Piedmont Speed skating teams and their impact on ice speed skating at the current Olympic games.

I love my Garmin Forerunner 310xt for the GPS, 20-hour battery, big display (even if a clunky housing), and for me, good solid HR readings. I usually don't mind wearing the strap, but sometimes, it is a drag...especially on really hot sweaty days. I'm interested in any experience people have with

The North Carolina license plates have worked their way through the "E"s, and recently I have found myself with "Ella, elle l'a" stuck in my head after stopping at a traffic light behind an "ELA" tag. I was sad to hear of France Gall's passing today. Her song about Ella Fitzgerald was a hit when I was in France in the eighties. Gall had won the Eurovision Song Contest for France in 1965 at age 18, with "Poupee de cire, poupee de son", written by Serge Gainsbourg. I had a hard time making sense of the title until I remembered the term 'son de blé', and that a rag doll I guess could be filled with wheat 'bran' (how very 1980s healthy of her).

Theron Sands is 53 and he skated in the 10,000 meters at the 2018 US Olympic Trials in Milwaukee on Thursday. I won't give away what happened beyond him reaching the qualifying standard for the trials (it takes about 10 seconds to find out) but here's a video made as part of his GoFundMe campaign while working toward it. There's a lot to appreciate about his training and preparation in here, even some wheeled skating.

An article from the passenger-side newsfeed... A website name of "Popsugar" doesn't encourage one to expect a lot of substance in its content, but here's a nice enough account of someone returning to skating as an adult and appreciating its fitness benefits.

I Started This Workout Out of Nostalgia, but Now I'm Addicted!November 29, 2017 by Brinton Parker

When fondly recalling my high school rollerskating days as a Sonic Drive-In carhop, I realized that I'd never once felt like I was working out when I skated; however, my body was in the best shape of my life (despite the fast food habit I was admittedly indulging daily). "Why don't I give that another shot?" I asked myself before diving into research about the benefits of skating.

This is a brief note to point to an article about pro long track speedkating season. The one that matters to me, at least. No disrespect intended to the short track derby, but I like mostly non-contact sport contests of speed. The first turn of an F1 race is admittedly often an exception.

This weekend pro long track starts again, and TeamUSA has some experienced skaters leading up to the Olympics. Notably, Shani Davis, a great speedskater over the years, returns. Also Heather (Richardson) Bergsma, from High Point, NC, is back on the ice for another year always being a threat to win the gold. I don't know how or if I'll be able to catch this off the airwaves or streams, but might make an attempt. Former inliner Joey Mantia will also be on the team!

Revealed earlier this year, Handle the robot, by Boston Dynamics has legs and wheels. While watching this video over and over I recognized skate mechanics and hints of unicycling. I wonder if the creators studied those sports. Handle would have no problem with the Art Museum Steps in Philly. Twirl Girl with one hell of a knee bend angle.

From their website, a2a.net, which has lots of information under "TELL ME MORE":

Athens to Atlanta (A2A) is the oldest and most famous road skate in America. Starting in Athens, Georgia, participants skate through beautiful country roads and quiet suburbia before navigating city streets and triumphantly crossing the finish line in Atlanta's Old Fourth Ward Skate Park. The course is challenging and requires experienced road skating ability, courage and stamina. Skaters who may not be ready for the whole 87 miles may opt for the 38-mile event, which also starts in Athens, or the 49-mile event, which starts near Dacula, GA. Inline and quad skaters are welcome and anyone from 8 to 80 years old may enter.

Roadskater.net inline skaters have skated A2A as many as 20 times. Familiar names can be found on the A2A Duraskaters (Distance) records page.

* Voted BEST TRIAD CENTURY Ride by Endurance Magazine readers 5 years in a row.* FREE: CAROLINA CENTURY HAT included for the first 300 registrants (pick up event day only).* 102/90/82/72/64/51/40/31/21-Mile routes.* 10 Hour+ Support for Your Epic Ride for 730am start.* We roll RAIN OR SHINE.* 7:30a 10mph+ and 9:00a 12mph+ starts and more.* Bike Ride'n'Roll to Benefit People with MS and to Fight Hunger where we ride.* Hot Chili and Grilled Cheese Sandwich Post-Ride Meal

This article is interesting to me mainly for what it explains about how they decide what substances should be banned, and why cyclists or at least their managers would want to have a drug banned. If there's no performance enhancement, OK. But I'd say being able to not abandon the next day is a sort of performance enhancement. What seems clear to me after this year of delayed startup for skating is that Tramadol makes some people l "loopy," and for others, it's a disappointment. :o) I took various pain killers in fear of how great they might me feel. I still never felt amazing! Oh well.

Anyway, not a bad article to remind us all to be careful what we take before going on the road in a car or on wheels.

I wonder what percentage of drivers on the road are actively under the influence of an opiod, alcohol, or other performance disenhancer.

I usually don't like reading the comments section, but even early on there are some funny responses.

From their website, a2a.net, which has lots of information under "TELL ME MORE":

Athens to Atlanta (A2A) is the oldest and most famous road skate in America. Starting in Athens, Georgia, participants skate through beautiful country roads and quiet suburbia before navigating city streets and triumphantly crossing the finish line in Atlanta's Old Fourth Ward Skate Park. The course is challenging and requires experienced road skating ability, courage and stamina. Skaters who may not be ready for the whole 87 miles may opt for the 38-mile event, which also starts in Athens, or the 49-mile event, which starts near Dacula, GA. Inline and quad skaters are welcome and anyone from 8 to 80 years old may enter.

Roadskater.net inline skaters have done A2A as many as 18 times in a row. Familiar names can be found on the A2A Duraskaters (Distance) records page.

I have already let a year pass without chronicling my journey into learning a new musical instrument as a middle aged adult. I'll start now because I'd like to use any extra help I can get, in case anybody has any. It helps to write it all out.

“OTS is one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen in my 30 plus years of working with athletes,” says David Nieman, former vice president of the American College of Sports Medicine. “To watch someone go from that degree of proficiency to a shell of their former self is unbelievably painful and frustrating.”

While some loss of strength is inevitable, the researchers found that older athletes who participated in exercise programs showed significantly more muscle strength that people of similar age who didn’t exercise. Maintaining muscle strength can be a key component of successful aging, as past research has shown that its loss in seniors is correlated to an increased risk of falling, a significant cause of age-related trauma.

This looks like a great event. Very A2A-ish, hillwise, but marathon distance. There are some pretty technical hills on the course by the looks of it.

I believe a blind skater completed the race, aided by a paceline buddy. I don't know anything other than the name of the event and what's visible in the video, but I will add to this as I find out more, if I get time.

Let's see, where was I? Oh yeah. I was slowly making zig-zagging headway with various elimination diets regarding my various allergies and autoimmune issues. Also, there was some recent talk behind the scenes about skaters and their training and/or weight loss goals for the upcoming training season. All of the above, plus a couple of 20 minute flat skating sessions this week that left me gasping for oxygen, has prompted me to try my own 30 Day healthy eating Challenge. I'm hoping to make it past day 4 this time.

This is a good article about an interesting object: a wooden bicycle which incorporates other materials...notably kevlar. It also shows how varied interests and passions can eventually combine into a new life's work or maybe even career, if all goes well. Rather than repeat it all, here's a link....

Just a quick reminder that ISU's website streams some speed skating, depending on broadcast blackouts. As I write, the long track speed skating men's 500m is on. Soon the short track may be available too.

To check schedules, you can use the following site, but be careful with any links there and don't download .exe files or fall for ads which mention you don't have the right codec or video player. Check your downloads directory after you're finished, too! Having said that, sometimes you can find feeds for events that no USA broadcaster has purchased.

Since we raise funds for Multiple Sclerosis research and advocacy through the Carolina Century and as the Roadskater.net cycling and inline skating team, we often are asked about the disease. We've tried to learn more about it, but it can be difficult to explain in a few words. One of our sidebars on this site tracks MS research, and usually the articles are either inconclusive or incomprehensible.

This article is pretty good, especially in the last three paragraphs, which explain MS generally. It's worth a read as a backgrounder, and for the information on the Vitamin D as a factor in MS development. The first comment to the article also seems knowledgeable, and the recommendation for Vitamin D from sunlight sounds good...but I think I may need to add some vitamins in with that.

I finally made it out to Greensboro Country Park for the first skating after Carolina Century. So that means I've not skated much since Athens to Atlanta, as the weeks between the two events are mostly about getting the CC ready. How would all that non-skating affect me?

Well, first off, my heart rate when I put the strap on was 130! Now, I've seen in the 120s for an event where I'm in a hurry or have a lot of responsibility, lots of people in town, all that. Most of the time it's under 100 getting started at Country Park.

I got there without much time before dark, so I set minor goals. I just did a couple of laps (5k), and really was only out to enjoy it. What I noticed was:

Here's a well-done if brief local piece of writing from Florida, where they are mighty proud of their inline champion, Brittany Bowe. If I have it right, she was at the US Cup when I was there, skating for Verducci (she, not me, ha!)**. I may even have some photos of her skating with the Verducci gals, not sure (might have a photo of Heather Richardson from a US10K too..

Thus, like many inliners, Bowe must have figured out there's not much glory in being at the top of a non-Olympic sport, and why not give it a go. (I think she may have made an attempt at cycling some time back too.) Anyway, she and High Point's Heather Richardson had raced plenty, and seeing Richardson's success surely was a factor, and likely made it easier to make the decision and follow an example for the switch over to indoor long track ice speed skating.

This could be a powerful duo for the USA and they could be ambassadors for inline everywhere.

A few years ago I had to shake things up as the old joys were no more....at least for a while. Thanks to three lovely young skater friendgirls, I started skating, and it turned out I was quickly more addicted than they were. The Year of Skating Dangerously saved my joy. To honor that time, I present: http://roadskater.net/rsn/photos/index.htm.

I was looking to create something other than what I had tried before, which had all dried up. So I bought a cheap digital camera and decided I would take photos and edit them and post them mostly without comment (hard for me!). The collection grew to 31,000 photos! Before September 11, airline flights were cheaper than the gasoline to drive some places. I had free places to land on floors. I went. I took photos. I edited them.

Shopping in Bournemouth today and I notice women of all ages from 18 to 60 all dressed in similar clothing styles. There are no "Juniors" or "Misses" sections in the clothing stores. It's all mixed. Consequently, women my age (45) aren't doomed to safe outfits like twinsets and slacks or to certain stores. I saw a £100 pair of bright blue Doc Martens I would've liked to buy, and a whole load of other outfits I'd like to wear. But I'd only be able to wear them here because if I wore them in Georgia I'd be accused of being a cougar.

Hoping to dodge the showers tomorrow and head over to Old Harry Rocks (Handfast Point).

Computer time is limited this time around but I hope to note more pseudo-foreign observations soon.

Great meeting Blake and Elizabeth at A2A around mile 15-20. Roadskater is responsible for helping me get back into skating and getting the proper skates, wheels etc to skate distances. I completed my first road skate by doing the 38 mile option of A2A on Sunday. The hills and roads were rough, but we made it through and the weather was great. Thank you again for your assistance back in april and may when we did our first charity event 72 Miles for Freedom. The group ride is on the Silver Comet Trail and you do not have to complete the full 72 miles... You may also run, bike, walk, or longboard. Our next one is March 23, 2013 and you can register and get more information on active.com at http://bit.ly/Qs1X1E

Per Bill Begg on the Bont forum, this year's Berlin Marathon had a total of over FORTY-EIGHT THOUSAND (!!!) participants! This spread out over skaters, hand cyclists/wheel chair athletes and runners. About 6,800 were skaters. Not too shabby! And they had beautiful weather this year as opposed to the driving rain they had in recent years. The skate portion of this event happened last Saturday, Sept. 29th.

Here's a pretty good video of the final few KMs, of eventual winner Ewen Fernandez of France, and Bart Swings of Belgium, showing the beauty of this sport.

We've been doing the Athens to Atlanta roadskate since 1999, and it helps us get out and skate all year, knowing we need to be ready to skate 87 miles in early October. If you're interested in rolling, it's not too late. Check A2A.net.

I'm not 100% sugar-, corn- or potato-free, and those foods don't fall under Paleo or Primal. I also eat dairy: cheese, eggs, milk, butter.

I wanted to write a follow up to my previous posts about my long-term dietary changes and how they are affecting my ultra-cardio lifestyle. Sorry, but I love to skate! All day if possible! It makes me nice! We're not gunning it the whole time so it's all perfectly doable without too much physical depletion.

Well just in case we needed to be inspired (or depressed?), a guy over 100 years old skated his age in km at a velodrome in Lyon, France in just over four hours and seventeen minutes. This is good stuff! This is good news for a rainy afternoon with no outdoor skating likely on this day, with a2a.net 87 miles of skating less than 9 days away. I'll be slower than the oldest people out there, I'm sure! Some of those dudes are fast! But I am looking forward to it. My Forerunner 305, however, is showing signs of not wanting to be awake that long at one stretch. A fix, hopefully, is on next week's agenda.

It had been a couple years since I had an outbreak of roadrash. Apparently I had forgotten just how much fun it is. Makes me feel young again. Yet, at the same time, old.

I also learned that if you don’t have any medical/bandage tape on hand, blue painter’s tape works surprisingly well. Holds just well enough to get through the night, yet doesn’t serve as a depilatory the next morning.

We have great volunteers who are veterans of Tour to Tanglewood, plus we put our own special spin on the ride... 10 hours of support so you can take your time and have an epic day on wheels. There's a lot more information on the carolinacentury.com website, and there are a few articles here on roadskater.net as well. Come join us on wheels or give us a day of your time to help people with MS, and to earn some fundraising for YOUR 2013 Tour to Tanglewood fundraising.

An article on the Beeb website wonders whether the current trend of the more informal version of you in French (tu) is going to eclipse the formal vous, at least on Twitter, if not in real life.

Twitter's character limit plays a role here, since it's less characters to use the familiar form, tu, than the more respectful version, vous. The article mentions French magazine editor Laurent Joffrin's question to a follower over Twitter last year: "Who told you it was ok to address me as "tu"?"

I have been hypothyroid for about 23 years. I have been on the meds for it since 1994. I am in the middle of untangling the whole mess, and trying to fix it myself rather than sit and take the misinformed junk conventional doctors try to impose on me. I thought I'd make notes here in case anybody else may benefit. This is a very common ailment and (I believe) triggers a domino effect of other auto-immune problems. Or at least they are all interrelated somehow, because when I find a natural cure for one (edema), it usually eliminates another (asthma).

This is a massive subject with very informative and long-standing websites available. Here's a good one to start with:

To cycling teams and their support staffs, large thighs are less an Olympic oddity and more a necessity specific to their sport.

By GREG BISHOP

Published: August 6, 2012

[...]

The image, a try-this-on-for-thighs comparison between one German cyclist nicknamed Gorilla (Andre Greipel) and another nicknamed Mr. Thigh (Robert Förstemann), underscored a more serious notion. Namely that cyclists, particularly track sprinters, rely on quadriceps, in all their massive, veined glory, to power them to success. Förstemann’s thighs, each comparable to a watermelon, measured 34 inches — wider than his waist.

My girlfriend used to play ice hockey and now wants to learn inline. Based on her previous skating and a few other things, I don’t think she needs to start at the “bottom” end of the spectrum, and could probably handle a high-cut almost-speed boot like a Race Machine or similar. But for now, she needs anything at all. What have any of you got to loan or sell that would fit a girl who wears EU 40 running shoes?

(And for those keeping score at home, seeing me skate didn’t inspire her to move to inline. But after watching Blake skate, now she wants to learn.)

Well the time I have off for long distance skating on the Silver Comet is gone for now. I blew it some days and let the weather forecast stop me. But I got in 4 sessions of 50, 66, 33 and 67 miles. More info later (maybe!), but for now, let's just say my wheels are flatter and maybe my feet too. I've put the miles into my newest skates and have worked around some challenges there. I'm not dropping pounds like I want too, because I seem attracted to carbs right now (as always)! There are some more stories to tell about people we met and random thoughts.

[Last Friday, eebee and I skated 66 miles (some might say more but that's close enough) on the Silver Comet Trail, from Mile 0 at Mableton near Nickajack Elementary, to Coot's Lake Station (where the old station was, where now there is a convenience store). Since we had done 50 two days earlier, there was not very much new to recount, or I had few braincells for recounting. We saw some wild turkeys, the tunnel was not muddy or wet, Dallas is getting our love for that much better water fountain at the back of the restroom building (I think there's a similar fountain at the back of the building in Hiram too, but I have not been up to the shelter in Hiram this year. If you make it to Brushy Mountain Tunnel, you might consider pushing on 3 or so more miles down to the store at Coot's Lake. Yes, you have to come back up, but it's likely you'll be refreshed. Now to what I wrote about today...roadskater.]

Available in ROYGBVM and this year's mystery color (latter for $10 less). Supersweet 19" zip. Comfy wicking fabric. 3 pockets on back. All that. Injected with skateylove yes and grateful to be skateful.

We did 50 miles rolling out at 2:36p. Getting ready in the mile 0 parking lot we both thought it felt hotter than any time we had been there.

I just read an interesting article on Mark's Daily Apple, about a couple who used to follow the 'healthy grains' carbo- and sugar-loading philosophy in their endurance training lives. Like many of us, they trained for many hours for triathlons, marathons and bike events, using grains and sugars to fuel these workouts, and like many of us, found they couldn't get out of the cycle of burning huge amounts of calories and eating them all again later, and then some. They found they not only didn't lose weight during the training season, but put it on 'effortlessly' during the off season.

The Roadskater.net jerseys are available in club fit & women's fit, with short-sleeves or sleeveless, in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet and magenta, plus the 2012 Mystery Color!

Orders are complete for summer, but if you would be interested in ordering now or over the winter, please send a note to jerseys at this website name. Or if you're brave and agressive, put it in the cart and I will contact you about options or a refund!

I have looked over http://roadskater.net more than a few times over the years, and every time its really hard to understand everything going on, because its so busy. Other skaters have told me the same thing. Maybe some could explain how to use the site to find what I'm looking for. So here is the question. Are there any local groups that skate in the Greensboro or surrounding area? I can't seem to find a calender of when or where anything is taking place.

Last night I spent a fun hour on my balcony in Southern Gwinnett County, GA, looking out towards a storm happening in Northern Dekalb and Fulton Counties. I got a few weak lightning shots. I was about to ditch one of the last ones but then noticed what looked like a giant head just to the right of the faint intracloud lightning strands. It took me aback at first, then I thought it was cute. It reminds me of a huge, in-utero ultrasound baby.

The Giro is now over and the last four or five days were fun and interesting to watch. It came down to a small group of stellar riders who had outpaced their support riders for the most part. It was close down to the last few seconds and there were several impressive performances. Ryder Hesjedal became the first Canadian to win a grand tour (Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, Vuelta Ciclista a España). The article linked here discusses an early coach, former Swiss Speed Skater, Juerg Feldmann, and some of his methods and tools (notably the SpiroTiger, for which this might be somewhat of a PR plant?). Regardless, perhaps worth looking into for more information regarding the coach, his methods, and his training tools...

Here is our promotional video. We have a good amount of skaters that have joined so far. 40+ participants including the skaters, walkers, runners, cyclist. The Group Ride is free, but we are asking for donations for www.wellspringliving.org (type "72 miles" in comments when giving). If the embedded video code doesn't work you can find video at vimeo.com/42252569 (or search for #72milesforfreedom on vimeo.com).

There's even more to this one! This runner can't navigate and even remember everything short term after surgery to address seizures! This is inspiring to say the least. Check out the article with details and see the tracker link here...

Now and then we like to stand up for skateboarders, who we don't always understand in terms of their love for wheels not attached to their feet, but don't need to understand...just support with some skateylove. All over ever day we see people jealously looking at the little wheels. Ours. The street boarders'. Even the big wheels and carbon fibre. We just want to say it again. Yes you can. Get a helmet and some wrist guards. Wear some old jeans and even knee and elbow pads if you like. But yes you can. And if you survive a few times at inline skating, skateboarding or cycling with an ending of fun and safety, you can do it for decades. Don't just try it out wherever. Go somewhere safe and flat and prepared. It's important to have fun and be safe so you won't freak out and never try again. So yes that's all repeated thought, but OK.

Here's a brief interview with one of Canada's favorite speed skating champions. I thought the comments on competition were interesting. I miss seeing all those skaters who were so much faster than me at Athens to Atlanta. They'd still be faster than me, most of them, but not perhaps it is not worth being there to them if not faster than almost everyone there? In any case, I'd love to see more skaters at A2A, especially those on the way up or down. I think a lower entry fee would help. In any case, back to the subject at hand....

Lots of us dream of touring our way to a speed skating oval, and especially the one where the Olympic Speed Skaters train, ice or not. It turns out it's nice and cool in there, and there are running as well as skating facilities. Rather than repeat it all, I'll say check out this guide. But if you want speed skating, you need to wait until mid-July, when the 400m oval gets ice. For now, it's dryland exercises.

Oh boy I love my excuses. I need them! But some people have the genetics, psychosis, or whatever it is to overcome the challenges and keep seeking the Olympic dream.

TWO ARTICLES! FIRST ONE...

Check out this article on a guy who can't hear the competition, but seems ready to beat them. An inliner, then a swimmer, then to drinks and drugs, back to inline, then he saw a buddy from inline skating on television in the Olympics...

It was time to transition to ice, a path already blazed by other inline skaters who'd gone on to race in the Olympics on the ice. He sold everything, including his car, and bought a one-way ticket to the Olympic Training Center in Utah.

And yes as we often admit, there can be an addiction there...a good one, we hope...

I often tell people who ask (and some who don't) that inline skating for one to several hours aligns my brain. I don't mean anything specific really, but things go better with eating, sleeping, doing, and thinking if I've been skating lately. Sometimes one day of four to six hours of not particularly difficult or fast skating can really improve the look of the world. Well that's me. What do the mice think? Or rather, what do scientists who study mice think.

Check out the article below if my snips are not making sense. Or go run on a mouse wheel for awhile and try again! Seriously the article is done well.

First, in a recent study, they wanted to

figure out how important physical activity is for generating or growing new neurons in the hippocampus.

To see whether exercise or other factors in the mouse's environment were boosting neurogenesis they designed a study with four groups:

Much like the term "Rollerblading" is not encouraged or accepted among skaters, or Rollerblade itself for that matter, what used to be called Ultimate Frisbee is now simply known as Ultimate.

My son has found his equivalent to skating, in Ultimate. That is, it's a sport where he can run himself ragged and not notice all the exercise he's getting because he's so into it. He is as hooked on Ultimate as I am on skating.

I haven't seen our buddy Jack in awhile (hope to soon!) so I was thrilled to see him skating in a local park...on YouTube. He seems to have gotten a new camera/videocam lately and has been posting lots of demo shots of zooms and time lapses and effects to show us why we should be jealous of his hardware! Also he has some RC flying gear and some videos of flights. But my fave as one who has skated with him is just to see him skate in this tripod vid of some skating in a parking lot.

Just a few miles from Florida's great tourist destination outdoor speedskating oval and cycling velodrome, a Florida town has banned skating rinks. Clearly skating rinks are more dangerous than everything else that's allowed down there in Florida. What happened to protecting small businesses? Where will the children go for the chicken dance fun? Greenlight. Redlight.

Let's remember not to spend any money there.

Meanwhile silly Canadians don't know how dangerous skating rinks can be. They seem to believe that skating rinks can be family fun, that they foster tourism and that the skating should even be free, sponsored by the government, no less...even for people who don't live there!

You know you're out of any ability to deal with real problems when you need to legislate skating.

Be careful if you visit Canada. Lots of skaters up there. And you might have fun getting some exercise.

It's a tough combination of teaching rink ice sessions, boardwalk running along the beaches of Long Island, NY, inline skating on multiuse pathways, and all the rigors of training (which is at least fun work), but not much time of 400m world class arenas. Many would like to have such a tough life of skating focus. But after early promise and years of challenges, a former bulemic ice figure skater who qualified for trials in 1984 believes she may have it all coming together after just two years on ice speed skates.

She may find the 15 seconds of speed to get her 15 minutes of fame to make it into the 2014 Winter Olympics. Even if she doesn't, the pursuit of that dream will keep her life skateyfied and that has to be supersweet, indeed.

I don't care to get too political here, because I'm not going to change your mind about anything, and you're not so likely to change anyone else's, perhaps. Everyone has their views, but here's one view from someone who has lived around the world and now lives back in the US, back in the US, back in the USA.

Take it with whatever grain or block of salt or poison you'd like, but...

I found it inspiring...

to hear that there are some people in the United States of America trying to find ways to bring the most and best care per dollar to everyone who needs it, in an effort to reduce the costs to all and improve the care to all. There are so many saying we can not do it. It is nice to hear some people are trying...and doing.

There's no skating here though the lady could probably skate along to the tune "Beyond the Sea (La Mer) as she does in the film (not the clip here). Up late last night as I was resurrecting the background functions of the website, this was an interesting view of someone who has lots of function but the connections are somewhat awry. I wonder if this is painful to the people with the disease, or at least is it any more or less painful to them than their life typically was. I have no idea. Just wondering. An interesting view. I'd like to see the outtakes! It was worth watching, I think. Look for it on Independent Lens on PBS (and check http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/youre-looking-at-me/ and http://yourelookingatme.com).

[EDIT: I found the video available in full on PBS.org at least for now, so here's the link directly below.]

Somehow I ended up looking at skate videos on Youtube again. Here'1s more from Kevin Jagger (Mr. LongTrackLongShot.com) - the guy who jacked it all in with his day job to concentrate on trying to make it in the longtrack ice world.

I have been trying to find out if there exists a word or term for hearing a word or phrase spoken by somebody else at the same time I happen to read it. This comes to pass for me many times a day, and usually results in me exclaiming "Ah!". It's like some sort of audiovisual synchronicity.

Parallel to this has been my search for a resource that will help me find a term to describe a particular concept or situation, if a google search yields nothing. I found a reverse dictionary on onelook.com. This is effective up to a point.

Something to get your heart racing...or to get you wishing it were: The NSC Experience, brought to my attention on Speedskateworld.com. Not sure if this was taken with a helmet cam. At some point I lost the corners. Great song too - more suitable to this type of rink scramble than the usual adrenaline EDM. I'm not sure what those popping sounds are in the video towards the end - the camera skater dragging his wheels? Maybe he's about to lose a frame...or maybe he's wearing Bont Gen III's with cracked hubs :-D.

So here we are in the Preseason, per Rob Bell's Periodization article I referred to for the Offseason. This should be a six week block of low-intensity technique work (drills), and cross-training (if you like that sort of thing).

Just as I feared, the Offseason threw me out of my routine and into a funk-and-a-half. So it's taking me some time to get into the Preseason groove. Although there is something alluring about having nothing to do for half an hour except focus on rolling on one skate around half the football field (paved track).

Hello out there. Yes it's nice sitting with the laptop and reading all sorts of stuff, checking in with your efriends or ifriends, maybe even watching PBS or some awesome, enlightening movie from before you were geborn. And everybody needs some time off, but when you are tired of your time off spinning down the drain, let me repeat that there's something about the wind in your face when you're on wheels, or even skis or shoes.

Great weather outside in roadskaterworldplanet, if a bit gray/grey. We have had some really warm days of late, but I've only skated once as I am in that proverbial "off season," ha.

It's been good in some ways to take a break from always feeling I need to go to the park and skate, and not so great in others, of course. It helps confirm what I so often say, along with so many others, that exercise helps with life, not the least of which are eating well, sleeping well, and lots more.

Meanwhile, as i delay going to skate today for the regular Tuesday attempt, here is something from one of my favorite radio programs (On the Media) that i can only hear by podcast now (afaik): an interesting idea for an online (somewhat social) game...to use for recovery from, for example, a bicycle injury, or other challenge. for this reporter it seemed to be a way to get out of a rut, so to speak.

Time for something off the sky. While looking for top ten items to include on the rest stop favorite foods survey, I ran across a great set of photos of and discussion about clouds. It mentioned the Cloud Appreciation Society. I want to be part of that! Here comes another Roadskater.net subteam! Here's that top ten cloud thing...

Once again, I completed the 102 mile Carolina Century this past Saturday. The family did the 31 mile option on their bikes. I need to get my girls used to skating long distances...

Not much to say, the skate was drama-free. So I'll just give some initial impressions.

What a great skate! Just like last year, conditions were perfect. No special difficulty, just a great day to skate.

Four skaters this year: Blake, Elizabeth, Bob Harwell, and me. Bob and I left Blake and Elizabeth fairly early in the skate, around 5-7 miles in (?). In Blake's defense, it sounded like he was on his phone quite a bit still working out some issues with other event organizers and volunteers.

I can not prove this large young dog was not just jealous of our fun and wanted to jump in to exercise to help people with multiple sclerosis. So I will just say I am glad we all had no lasting pain (except perhaps for his psychological pain from seeing skaters coast past him from behind with skates on the ground on either side of him).

OK. We've been missing from this ghost town for weeks as we completed the 90 miles in 2 days at Tour to Tanglewood, the 87 miles in 1 day at Athens to Atlanta (7h58m) and did the preparations for volunteers to put on the 102-21 mile Carolina Century ride and roll for MS, while we skated as unintentional sweep much of the day. Now it is on to wrapping up lost and found and website items and participant surveys and such. Plus resting off 102 miles (10h23m) on roadskates.

Meanwhile to amuse me I looked back at my unpublished Tour to Tanglewood 2011 photos and I got 6 photos (don't worry I just aim my arrm in that direrction and crop later) during the dog incident. 4 of him passing us, and 2 blank ones probably taken during the shoulder roll or after...they are just black except for some light around the edges like a near death experience (NDE).

Lose all what, exactly? I can't say that this year's training and peaking event season has left me particularly buff, but I would like to retain what little muscle-tone and muscle-memory I did achieve. After some digging around online, I found an article by Rob Bell on inlineplanet, uploaded a few years ago: Periodization Training, Part 1: How to Make the Most of Your Training.

Many years ago I saw a documentary on PBS. Something about stress in animals, including, supposedly, humans. Anyway, as they were interviewing some human, a sign on one of the cages in the background read, "RAT HAS NO CONTROL." I have almost never stopped laughing about the beautiful truth of those four words of homemade bumper sticker. This is the answer to the majority of the world's questions.

To be fair, there must have been another cage back there that had a sign reading, "RAT HAS CONTROL." This was the point of the experiment, to show that rats with some control (and predictability of circumstances, as I recall) were much more able to handle rat stress induced upon them by humans. Anyway, great show, and one I've remembered for a long time, eh?

This article reminds us of some simple ideas but with some testing to back it up. Even in sports requiring lots of sprinting, there are moments that depend on endurance. In roadskating and roadcycling, that's certainly true, especially in the distances we love, some of us. The basic idea was to test whether watching relatively neutral documentary shows vs. taking a fairly mentally tough test would produce an effect on subsequent endurance athletic tests.

Although the cognitive test didn’t produce any physical fatigue, the volunteers gave up on the cycling test 15 per cent sooner when they were mentally fatigued compared to when they had simply watched the documentaries.

I'm not sure about access to this article for everyone, but the New York Times had an interesting piece on sports medicine, a booming segment of health care, and one in which roadskaters and roadcyclists are definitely interested. But how do we know there's real science behind the treatments and techniques on offer? The article is interesting on multiple levels, since the author received one of the treatments and wrote about it in an earlier article referenced within.

Fortunately, some people out there are trying to do the follow-up, but most of us wanna be like mike or whatever, so we are susceptible to celebrity ads or buzz. Anyway, not much to say, except this article seems worth a read as background for life on the road. I"m interested in others' thoughts and experiences. I'm certainly not saying that sports medicine has nothing to offer, but like most things that involve hope and money, it's hard to know what's real.

As oft told, sometimes the best thing to get kick started is some thawing frozen cafe bustelo. It's the cheapest easiest closest thing to the venti cafe americano. Freeze it in a grippy gatorade bottle or pour it over ice in said vessel. Yummation!

This weekend we hoped to do lots of miles roadish and as mentioned yesterday (http://roadskater.net/how-i-wasted-or-enjoyed-morning-danny-macaskill-tr...), we bailed on the training ride and ended up feeling OK about doing alternative activities. But we still needed to skate. So we went for Indian food, then went for a walk in the Dollar Tree, ha, then decided to check the weather.

It was windy with some threats of rain, but the radar was clear so far, so we headed up for Country Park. When we got there, we caught a ride on the tram, which was driven by Geoff, who played dixieland jazz on the CD player for passengers in the tram. We told Geoff we were thinking about inline skating but wanted to check out the road junk first.

With the weather being windy and uncertain at 5:45am when we had to get going if we were going, we decided to bail again on the training ride.

We sat outside for a while around 6am looking at the wind bending the trees and looked at radar on our phones. The 20 was not worth driving that far for, and if we did the 41, we were afraid there would not be many other riders (or skaters) at our pace doing that distance.

Not wanting to be a hassle, and not wanting to face strong winds, especially if the event were not well attended, we excused ourselves (after conferring with some mates on it).

So I got an email from Sparky of the Tater Rides about some video of a rider. The video seems indie movie and I usually love that but I almost stopped it. Wow am I glad I watched.

I feel compelled to air some thoughts about the current hurricane threat, and to throw in some useful links. I'm sure anybody in the path of Hurricane Irene knows where to go for the latest satellite, radar and projections. I'm hoping they are also giving a great deal of thought to a Storm Plan, in case things get rough.

Of interest with Hurricane Irene are the Northeast States, if only for their dense populations. As with NOAA's SPC and the deadly Missouri-Alabama-Tennessee tornado outbreak in April this year, the NOAA National Hurricane Center has been pretty sure about this particular storm's trajectory now for the past 3 days. Perhaps that's the nature of the East Coast storms, as opposed to those in the Gulf of Mexico. It seems to be clear to those monitoring the tropics by the time a storm has approached the Bahamas, as to whether it's going to head out to sea, or make for the US coast.

These guys have a great group, a fine email list (yes they still exist and serve a nice niche), and they do lots of free skate-ups. I am really glad to see they got a nice write-up with some visibility for their happy efforts. If you're going to DC, you really should bring your skates and get hooked up with these guys for some rollaround time. With a backpack for your skates an a pair of shoes, you can go far on your own, but drop that stuff in the room and cruise with WAR for some roadskating thrills and probably some hills.

SkateDC is a free and fun skate weekend where the roadskaters host rollers from out of town. It's a good time for skaters, and their families can find plenty to do around DC in May (when it is usually held). If you're into racing, I believe they still do the Skate of the Union (coming up soon I believe), where they take over the driving course for a local law enforcement agency to do laps on the track.

While we've been focusing on the USA Pro Cycling Challenge somewhat, the Vuelta a Espana is well underway, just not on my television. Well, neither is the USAPCC, but I've been finding ways to get a look in through the kindness of strangers. Anyway, I took a look at the Universal Sports page at the bottom there, which links to Taylor Phinney's blog here...

There's something very relevant about these descriptions of pain and doubt. Something very easy to remember, but easy enough to forget, so we go out and do it again. Phinney has a good way of expressing it so that even those of us who've never been front runners like he has can at least know we share some of the same emotions and sensations.

I am not recommending anyone else do this, just telling what I did and showing some of it. If you can't do this or don't think it is a good idea, get some professional repair help, or better yet, buy new boots!

A few years back I replaced my Mogema and my beloved Verducci V-Tec boots after deciding they were too far gone to fix. Believe me. If I can't dream up a fix (whether or not it would work) they really are toast.

Many of my repair dreams involve various types of epoxy (either the two-bottle, dual-syringe, two-tube or the single-tube-of-putty sort made like caramel creams, e.g. waterweld) plus various "found objects" like used USPS Tyvek envelopes (as it's not nice to use the new stuff, ya know?), various kinds of plastic sheeting, air sole material, stuff like that. (Tyvek layers epoxied on can make a decent patch to strengthen some weak carbon spots, in my opinion.)

Let the hot button pressing phrases begin. This article is a true kiss-kiss but it sure does speak well for the benefits of inline skating! Off we go.

First, of course, we learn that Ms. McCabe is "never been one to shy away from a challenge" and is "back in her size 10 jeans and has just completed a 27-mile rollerblade marathon." She is of course, "loving life and despite juggling motherhood and a busy career."

That's a beautiful life. Almost like a movie. How was the training? Oh you took your baby skating? Seems like it. “Every weekend, I had my rollerblades on pushing the pram through our local park and trying not to fall over.” Good job you didn't tip over the pram! Well no harm no foul. I'm sure baby wore a helmet.

Who says skating, especially quad skating, especially among marrie couples, is tame or lame? Check out this video. It's amazing what these two skaters accomplish in such a small space. It would be impressive in any space.

Of course, it would be nice if skating got popular because it is a nice, boring, healthy pastime, participated in by very ordinary individuals. Well that's true, but you won't hear so much about it and they'll avoid videos mostly! But in this case, it's made for media, so let's hope it inspires some people to get buff and get skating!

The two skaters talk about a huge factor in any kind of couples or team or group skating...trust. It is one of the great treasures of skating with people you know well, whose motives and skills you know, and are comfortable with.

This couple clearly love each other and love the speedy spining and being in control amidst the danger. They seem to want to share it, to spread it.

In an article from the sidebar, I though wow, somebody wants to hire a nude inline skater! It read, "Naked Rollerblader Wanted."

Well, not exactly!

It turns out a nice fellow was out inlinestreaking or buffblading or rawrolling in good old friendly Barrie, Ontario recently. He was clearly enjoying being rollerbuff. Some people pick on skaters for wearing Lycra, so maybe he was trying to accommodate their wishes but not wearing anything! Why bother with wicking fabric, after all?

I don't know if he found his thrill or his pain, but he was on Blueberry Lane.

It's nice how officers "attended" this event after it was over. Seems like non-citizens may have been shunned by the nudewheeler.

I don't have a lot of time to discuss this right now, but I wanted to say that the upcoming USA Pro Cycling Challenge looks like a breakthrough event for the USA in terms of hosting major tours. Yes, the Tour of California had lots of talent and beautiful scenery, and the Tour of Utah built up to another level this year, but the USAPCC is a chance to see the top Tour de France riders on what look to be some great routes. Here are some links...

Now for more silliness about skating police around the world. A few years back it was the Paris police, now we have candidates from China and Israel. We loves us some skating so don't gets us wrong, skating is great...but not necessarily the way to chase criminals. However, as a light and easy patrol with interactions with the friendly locals, sure, it could be great.

The China story is funny for the high heels and the Israel video is good to listen to for the stupid things the narrator says. I hahed at checks and stripes. Credit to eebee for earlier disgust at some of this topic before, making it stick in my brain better.

Here's just a quick note to say thanks, Levi, for representing your sport so well. We can all be proud that this cyclist is representing the USA so well. It looks like Levi will be supporting Brajkovic for the Vuelta, and neither are among the top five picks as far as I know. I'm glad RadioShack did OK as a team and that they gave help to Levi as he repeated his Tour of Utah win. Great idea to have a bike race in your beautiful state (and get it on television), huh? North Carolina?

This weekend we thought we were going to perhaps go to the Mock Orange Bikes hosted Tour to Tanglewood Training Ride. But research on their website where directed to see cue sheets showed it included some perhaps busy roads (especially coming back...Reynolda and Polo), plus some challenges we've done before with downhills into intersections that are possible but not exactly tons of fun, and no route longer than 35 miles, which means no group might be coming in from 50 while we're coming in from 35. So when the rain came through overnight and in the early morning, we decided to pass. Sad to miss our friends, but we felt we should do what we know, and we were not even certain of the exact route they'd use for the far end of the out and back from their shop (did it go out Kiger and back Red Bank or mostly on Red Bank with part on a road we didn't know?). We should research sooner and better next time.

Seriously? Isn't the point of the cheat meal that there are no rules? It's the payoff after many hard days of eating clean, right? In the second visit with my nutrition coach, I learned that the wrong cheat meal can throw off your diet for a few days, beginning the downward spiral in the dieter's trifecta -- self doubt, self loathing and depression. The good news is that you have a lot of latitude with cheat meals, and your body and your scale will guide you. The cheat meal has two purposes -- to replenish glycogen stores and to trick your metabolism. And, the harder you train in the days before your cheat meal, the more latitute you have in food choices. At least this is the way I understand it. If you are really carb depleting, the right cheat meal will register a loss of one or two pounds on the scale next morning. A good cheat meal won't move the scale at all the next morning.

My first cheat meal -- after 8 days on the diet -- was a real blowout.

For once I don't know what to think of this. I basically dislike fans trying to get in the race or stand alongside or run along with the riders. I normally wouldn't like riders trying to join in, either. But maybe this was a special deal, I'm not sure. If it truly was a test event, well these guys helped provide the test! And it sounds like the race officials failed? No harm, no foul, maybe, and we'll find out if there was any real damage, I'm sure. The only reason I'd be tempted to say this is cool would be the test event nature of it. Hmm. I don't know but feel like they meant to be there but I'm also thinking they really meant to bring up the rear, not be between the peloton and backmarkers. But then they could just be good liars with pants afire.

Greensboro's Country Park was hosting the Triad Classic Chevy Club's 17th Annual Car Show yesterday, so for our still-delinquent training miles last evening we needed to come up with an alternative.

Roadskater drove us to the Target parking lot on Lawndale Drive, Greensboro, and we parked close to the gigantic brick, former-Sears Distribution Center building and donned skates. I felt excited at the prospect of exploring, and skating somewhere new.

The initial half-mile of our trek provided smooth-as-ice asphalt under wheel, to the trailhead behind the Target. Even though the beginning of the trail is rather narrow and bumpy with two-foot-tall fire hydrants smattered here and there, sometimes in the middle of the path, the trail still gets you from A to B away from shoppers and cars. Almost 2 miles down the trail we joined up with the gnarly, roots-ridden path near the Lewis Recreation Center on Forest Lawn Drive and headed off North.

This is your chance to own the campus! The skate will take advantage of the newest leg of the bike and hike trail as well as the new esplanade through Kent State University's campus. Show the community that skating is alive and kicking in Portage County!
DESCRIPTION:
A MORNING FULL OF SKATING, COOKIES, MUSIC AND FUN! A FREE FAMILY-FRIENDLY EVENT!
The Portage Bike and Hike trail has opened up its arms to skaters around the county!

We had a great time with Jay up from Atlanta. With Skatey-Mark leading out then serving as sweep alternately, I think in all we had seven, including GotSkates Tom. I don't think I can call all the names, sadly, so I'd better stop there. But two others I know I have skated the trail with before, and one of the guys besides Mark had done the Carolina Century before as well. It was a fun bunch and I enjoyed not being in charge or on home turf but being a visitor.

We saw lots of cyclists including roadies and kids, and lots of families out using the trail. But it always felt good, never negative, to me. I guess I was in the middle most of the time, sometimes going up to the front and others going all the way back. It was a great time.

I'm in Chapel Hill at the Panera. I came down to do something near Cat's Cradle in Carrboro this morning. Then I was (and am) planning to do the American Tobacco Trail Wednesday night social skate, as I hear Jay from Atlanta may be rolling in, and Tom GotSkates is likely there, plus skatey-mark and more.

On the way into town I saw a bus that looked like a rock band bus...nice, but not announcing who they are...toting a trailer, too. I wondered who it might be, figuring they were on the way to the Cradle.

This is another piece that ends up leaning toward pimping some brands, but OK, when the brands have put some bucks into helping kids of war learn to skate and love...at least love to skate. What gets me here is how many things Percovich has tried, where he's been, and how exceptionally well he speaks at least in moments of this interview.

I have snuck all manner of food into a movie theater, from fried chicken and burgers, to whole pizzas folded in half. Tonight I boxed up my 2.9 ounces of fish, then bagged it, and smuggled it through the ticket check point in my large black bag. Because of the smell, I had to move to another row for my quick dinner during the previews. I’m just glad I didn’t get bounced. And I’m happy I stuck to my diet.

I apologize to the Academy and the Hollywood foreign press for not buying a 1,000-calorie item from the concession stand. I did pay for a Coke Zero and large water. I hope that helps. OK, I had a coupon for the Coke Zero, but that’s because I spend so much at the movies.

I’m getting closer to my next diet milestone – 40 pounds. Lost another 1.2 this a.m. Tomorrow is another gym workout and I hope to find some buddies for a Sunday morning ride.

I hope to come back to this (he often says), but I wanted to post it before it's gone. Barry Publow's book, Speed on Skates, had some info on this, and eebee and I actually did some really short workouts one year. I would not call them fun, exactly, but I think they were helpful (along with being younger, lighter, and more obsessed with skating every day).

On the heels of my recent article, in which I pledged to take it easy this week, I'm happy to report that I have lost a good deal of weight since Saturday's ride. I'm starving but my next meal is cooking now. It's going to be chicken breast again. Oh boy! And brown rice! Hoorah! I'll get another protein shake and walnuts before bedtime. Just two more days until my next cheat meal.

I gain and lose 5 pounds when I'm not dieting and after recommitting to my diet and weight-loss program, I got down to a five-year low this morning. That's 5.2 for this week. My official total loss is now 35.2 pounds.

I pondered this question during the rest of my wasted weekend after bonking on the 36-mile TTT training ride in the 100-degree heat on Saturday.

Two good things did happen during the weekend – I posted my fastest average speed for the distance and I got to spend some time with roadskater and eebee. And the September issue of Bicycling magazine arrived in my mailbox.

Besides catching up on what the pros are doing, salivating over new bikes and dreaming of my first grand fondo, I really enjoy reading the Bike Snob’s column. “Fit To Be Tied” was the title of his September column. In this issue he asserts that “Being in shape is a wonderful thing – until it ruins your life.” If you read the column, you’ll see that he equates winning the “fitness lottery” and wanting to hold onto that feeling to a gambler on a hot streak.

According to ESPN, HTC-Highroad team owner Bob Stapleton has admitted defeat in his search for a title sponsor to replace phone-maker HTC and the men's team will cease operation at the end of this season.

At Saturday's TTT training rest stop the roadskater.net mystery color jersey was the hot topic at Rest Stop 1. One of our teammates -- I will keep her identity a mystery -- went through the full spectrum of colors and said with confidence that it would be red this year. I let her know that if roadskater finds out she knows that the color will change. "It's already gone to press, it can't change," another said. We who buy the jerseys year after year and try all means of trickery to get roadskater or eebee to slip up and tell know that this is not the case. In fact, if you guess too hard and are close to the new color, it is my understanding that roadskater indeed has the power to change the color. My money was on a gray/black combo this year becauase that would go nicely with my new black, gray and pink bike (hint hint for future years). I do know this. I LOVE LOVE LOVE every roadskater.net jersey that I own. And after this year, I will have them all.

If any of you reading this has experience with heat exhaustion or dehydration I would appreciate your comments. Yesterday ended badly and yesterday’s headache is still with me. I’m wrapped up in a blanket with the A/C cranked on meat-locker cold.

It was already 82 degrees at 7:30 Saturday morning when I packed up my bike to head to the Tour to Tanglewood Training Ride. There was no way I was going to miss the ride hosted by my favorite bike shop, Cycles de Oro. I prepared for the ride with a decent night’s sleep and a protein shake packed with oats and almond milk. I rode with two full water bottles, each containing a small scoop of Shaklee Performance, and my last pack of GU. Distance choices were 10, 20 and 36. I was happy to learn that I didn’t have to make the choice between 20 and 36 until 9 miles in, at the first rest stop.

I met with a nutritionist and training coach this afternoon, armed with my "data," favorite diet books and must-haves for the next phase of my brain/body makeover. I fully expected to leave that meeting with a license to eat anything on a heavy training day. What I left with was some great information, a renewed commitment to reaching my weight-loss goal and a grapefruit to add to my daily diet (yay!). I also get a banana on Tour to Tanglewood training days.

Not much time to comment, but while looking up some results from the USARS speed skating, I noticed that the streaming links for that are still working. The current competition is figures and it appears to be compulsory routines. There's a chat box so you can learn a bit about what's going on. I don't know why but this gave me some encouragement at times today when I needed a short break. It's fun to see people enjoying the various ways of rolling on various kinds of skates. Looks like pairs is beginning as I wrap this. They're a couple of hours behind schedule, it seems!

It's been a while since we've talked. So I'll update my fellow dieters on my progress since my last post. After 15 months of diet and exercise, I'm happy to report a weight loss of 35 pounds. Last year during the active cycling season, I maintained my 25-pound loss. Until about October. In October and early November, I continued to eat at the same pace but cut back on my calorie burn. I reclaimed 8 of those lost pounds. With the help of my trainer and the diet body builders use when training for competion, I lost 17 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year's. I believe that I have lowered my body's set point and now I gain and lose the same five pounds, but starting at a much lower set point.

Roadskater posed the
question briefly during one of our recent Silver Comet Trail skates: "What's that
calorie-per-pound number again?". I believed I knew the subject well until
I started to try to talk about it, whereby I realized the 3,500 number pertains
only to fat loss. So I made a note to revisit an article I had read by Tom
Venuto, on fitwatch.com.

Venuto refers to a study
by Dr. Kevin Hall (an 'investigator' at the National Institute of Health in
Bethesda, MD) published in the International Journal of Obesity sometime in
2008, researching the 'mechanisms regulating human body weight'.

The road was closed for the 18th annual Napa Valley Inline Marathon
and Half Marathon so skaters, some Bay Area locals and visitors
from France, Germany, Australia and other countries, could have
free reign of the course.

“These people live for these types of events, where you get a
closed, smooth road and you can skate distances, not just like in a
roller rink where you go in circles,” said organizer David Miles,
55, of San Francisco.

If you want to see some mad skills by human shelties focused on chasing the moving object, check out the world championships of inline hockey live online. As we've discussed variously, USA cable television seems not to want to show many sports, no matter what they say. They'd rather show whatever gets rankings of course, and is cheap to produce. Some sports jealously guard the rights to their programming, making sure no one in the USA at least can see it. Others realize they need to let people see it to enjoy it (or not) and to build some demand (or not) for watching their sport.

The Olathe-based manufacturer of GPS devices is the title sponsor for
Garmin-Cervélo, a cycling team competing in the Tour de France. On
Sunday it won its first Tour de France stage victory in the team time
trial. Tyler Farrar won the next stage, becoming the first American to
ever win on July 4 and the first to win any Tour stage since 2007.

Teammate Thor Hushovd has held onto the overall lead, and the leader’s yellow jersey, four days into the three-week race.

Sponsoring
a pro cycling team can cost millions of dollars. Jake Jacobson, social
media manager for Garmin, said the company had spent a large amount
sponsoring the team, although it wouldn’t release the exact figure.

I was outside looking through the bucket of wheels and zip bags of bolts, washers, spacers and other various hardware I've collected just in case I might need it. My goal was to set up three sets of wheels with bearings and spacers so I could do relatively quick swaps to see how they felt in comparison as best I could.

RoadSkater.Net 2011 Mystery and Classic Color Jersey Order Form

ORDERS ARE OVER FOR 2011. See http://roadskater.net/RSN2012jerseys.htm to order the 2012 versions. These notes remain as a guide to the project, sizing, styles and the mystery. The 2011 Roadskater.net Mystery Color Jersey Project is still GO! So if you did not want to order unless it was sure to make, it's made. Remember, you can order Classic Colors, short or no sleeves, club or women's fit.

So many times as an adult I have longed for the joy I felt during childhood. At times I find life as an adult to be a challenge as my own fears collect and hinder over time like pine straw in a skate brake!

How to recapture the giddy hysteria of childhood antics without the aid of mood-altering pharmaceuticals?! Should I go back to Bournemouth and find a white/blonde-haired kid with which to play hide and seek in the bleached stucco stair wells of the grand houses near the Winter Gardens? One of my sisters might oblige these days but they'd secretly think I was just a sad remnant of a previously well-adjusted person. I could say hang it all and move to the beach...any beach...and hope to recapture the magic of simply standing on the sand, enthralled for hours by the sun-sparkles on the water surface.

Of course you can always donate money to the Red Cross and countless other organizations (please do), which you can find listed alongside many tornado outbreak news articles. But it's a little harder to find where to actually show up or who to call to register for hands-on help in Alabama, probably partially because thousands of volunteers showing up out of the blue might add to the problem. However, there are some smaller organizations advertising for volunteer help needed. I know other states were hit too, including the state where I live, but I believe it's a Cat-in-the-Hat situation in Alabama (...And this mess is so big and so deep and so tall, we cannot pick it up, there is no way at all). I think the ratio of hands to rubble is far worse than in Georgia.

This is my second attempt to bring some attention to this notable ride. While looking for links the first time around I revisited the awful circumstances surrounding Mr. Serrano's death, and got so upset I had to quit and go do something else. But who am I to give up and run away? For the three involved in this accident, it's the least I can do to highlight this ride.

This is my second attempt to bring some attention to this notable ride. While looking for links the first time around I revisited the awful circumstances surrounding Mr. Serrano's death, and got so upset I had to quit and go do something else. But who am I to chicken out? For the three involved in this accident, it's the least I can do to highlight this ride.
http://tonyserranoride.com/
I was happy to find a flyer for this event in my mailbox last week. When I saw Tony's name I had a flashback to the last time I skated the US 10K Classic in 2004. At the finish line festivities I struck up a conversation with a friendly runnner, who I think said he was Tony's brother-in-law. He explained to me that a group of them had taken part in the event to honor Tony. I told him I had heard about the accident the week before and was very sorry. The whole team was wearing crazy bright T-shirts and far from being sombre, they were happily celebrating Tony's life loud and clear.

Congrats to all who are spending plenty of time exercising! Kudos if you do that AND spend lots of time thinking about this while exercising or not. Thinking about exercising is part of actually going to exercise. And any mind game that gets me out exercising is a mind game I like. Also, thinking about scientific and mathematical issues keeps brains exercised along with the rest of the body. If you feel elevation data is irrelevant to your training, you won't want to waste your time reading this article. If reviewing your data informs you and inspires you, read on to see if you agree.

From bullying target to Olympic silver medalist is not too bad. But it is usually harder than it looks. And once in a while someone shares their struggles with the rest of us. Speed Skater Trevor Marsicano is going back to his old school and is visiting other schools to talk to kids about his experiences with bullying as a youngster.

As I circumparambulate (redundant on purpose, like my excusification day after day through the now passing daylight losing time), others get on with it. My little exercise objections so numerable or down to just one or even none, I console myself with not wanting to burn out over a long season to come. That is OK. I must be doing what I need to do for me overall (or I can hope).

But with myself as a foil, it is inspiring to see a young lady shy of ten years, and to read of her love of wheeled travel such as that I feel, and to see her blossom through the struggles. Please take a moment to read about Lauren, and to see the photos of her in her patriotic colors, repaying generosity in the past with interest, through the spark of happy striving. You go girl.

First, if you're going to just watch a few minutes, here's the finish of Stage 5, the last 7.7km, which are great fun to watch, with a breakaway, small chase breakaway, some major riders dropped, and some major riders in a chasing peleton. Check it out...

Here's an interesting interview with a guy who talks and rides well, and seems to have respect for cycling and its traditions...and his team mates and competitors. If his words turn out to be genuine, I could be considered a fan. I haven't followed Paris-Nice well this year, but it is usually one of the first two events I notice a bit each year (along with Tirreno-Adriatico.

Here's the finish of Stage 1, where you can see Jens Voigt hanging with the young guys again, including de Gendt.

I was trying to see if I could get some streaming video going but I didn't get it all to work in time. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow. Check myp2p.eu if you're interested. I'm using Ubuntu Linux mostly right now, so it's a bit different to get it all going.

So here are a few links pointing to some of the latest in a big weekend for the USA both in the original speed skating (long track), where they skate against the clock and contact is rare, and the more television-friendly contact sport, short track, where anything can happen. (Yes I like the more boring event better when they broadcast it all and I don't know the winner in advance, at least. Short track is good fun, too.)

Shani Davis is going great and Heather Richardson won at least one bronze on the 400m track, but now the USA has skaters at the top of short track in male and female divisions. Nothing can help skating of all kinds like seeing some USAmericans bringing home medals.

Just some quick notes here to remind that the World Single Distance Championships are under way in speed skating (they seem to like to have several kinds of world championships, ha!), and the Tirreno-Adriatico cycling race started yesterday with a team time trial. I followed the T2A (as we roadskaters might dub it) in past years and found it very entertaining, through territory reminiscent of the mountains of NC as I recall.

I won't spend much time describing this gallery but let me say it is a really fun look at photos of the type you take with black and white film, you dodge and burn, you hold in your hands, mark up for cropping, and put in the newspaper. I also usually stay away from comments after most newspaper or television website articles, but I looked at these and I was glad. Most were happy. Some were very well written and added to the positive aura of the page. What I notice is what so many noticed, that these were shots of people having fun skating. I hope today's kids are having as much fun as safely as these. And notice how many adults are in on the fun too.

Sure, there were skating parties in Retzer’s childhood, but his true love affair with skates didn’t come until he was in his 30s with young daughters at home. Then, he bought Rollerblades for himself and his daughter.

“Something clicked in me,” he said.

It wasn’t long before Retzer’s competitive side weighed in, and he began doing inline speed skating competitions. He trains with the Rockford Road Scholars and has competed for the past 20 years in places from Minnesota to Georgia. Some races are marathon-length.

Others are nearly 100 miles over hilly courses.

In good weather, Retzer skates daily and logs about 2,000 miles a year. He’s been clocked as fast as 43 miles an hour.

Allow me to shed light on that obscure title. In the midst
of moving the entire contents of our abode down many flights of stairs and up
many more (to bigger digs), my son had a book-review deadline looming.

The ‘project’ was to bring food items, loosely related to
the story the student had read, to class for a nosh-up.

He read Dan Brown’s The
Lost Symbol, and decided somehow to create some kind of pyramid-shaped edibles.
While looking for ideas online, we found this article and were stupidly both
convinced it’d be quick and somewhat easy, rationalizing that the ‘moderate’
difficulty-rating was merely to benefit the young and naïve.

Even if you feel healthy and are active, this skater's story points out that it's important to know and pay attention to symptoms, then to seek attention when you feel an out of the ordinary pain or discomfort. Then after an initial diagnosis, when pain returns, get more diagnosis! At a time when I let a lot of things keep me from going skating, this woman is an inspiration to exercise and to seek help if I feel similar symptoms. Other brief stories here tell how others have faced their heart attacks.

I took a break from working on the website and some family health issues, and from photos and video of the US Figure Skating Championships, to read this nice story of a day out at a new rink...in a snow storm. There's a balance of thoughts on the rink and the money and the goals, but really, to me, it sounds like the start of something beautiful in Toronto. Community and physical activity often amplify each other well. If you have a minute, read this journal entry of the brand new shovel and brand new skating rink.

Just noticed a couple of reports that give a new angle to the story of US Representative Gabrielle Giffords and her long road to recovery after nearly being assasinated on January 8th. One is that she is a very active inline skater as it turns out. According to this local news story about Rep. Giffords's progress. she was regularly seen skating the asphalt loop around Reid Park in Tucson.

Supporters have become accustomed to a “miracle every 48 hours,”
said Michael McNulty, Giffords’ perennial campaign chairman.

“The rhetorical problem is that the doctors always say: ‘Given what she’s been through, she’s doing wonderfully.’ That’s kind of like saying ‘They’re going to China, and given that they have to
walk, they’re doing great.’

I found the link to this article pondering about do what you love and all that over on an inline instruction email list, and they were joking about running away with the circus, so I should credit them for the idea of my title, too! I never found any video of Katie Ketchum in Cirque du Soleil, but I found two nice ones of her burning up with some sweet style on one of her favorite indoor street courses...She seems to focus on intricate, precise landings, but can pop a spin (see 0:52 or so). Mostly though it's less rotational and more flowing moves with stylish finishes...

What is it about a young kid only skating for twenty percent of his life that can fascinate and inspire? Maybe it's the low center of gravity, little awareness of pain, and ability to spin without expelling previously ingested appetizers? I don't know, but as much as I love road skating and find most street and vert performances to be a bit repetitive, I enjoyed watching this young Scot hit the ramps. Here's a bit of viddy with more available. If you only look at a few seconds, start at 2:30 or so to the end to see some front and back landing spins and some post ramp flippage. Nice!

Wow. It looks pretty nasty down there in downtown Atlanta. Check out the brightcove link below for the original video, but I'm updating this to include some video of a woman someone skating on the streets of Atlanta (near Georgia Tech I believe, where we've roadskated on wheels), inspired by eebee's posts below. Here's the brief roadskating video of a different sort...with figure skates, no less...

There's nothing so brilliant for me to say, except kudos to having a nice attitude and trying to make something good and fun out of a perhaps major mistake. It seems like 5 to 6 inches of ice would make a good start at a rink, and I vote for the Fire Department to come help smooth it out some. I have not been to the local outdoor ice rink but did drive by a few days ago on the way to something else. It seemed to be well attended by teens and such, who looked to be having fun.

It's the helmet debate. I read this article to see if my thoughts might be changed. They were not. My thoughts are not based on numbers, but on my increasing belief over the years based on my experiences, mainly my failures if you'd like to think of them that way, but I think they were accidents far less under my control than I believed only seconds before, all in apparently very safe conditions. This doesn't make me right, but it makes me convinced.

Heather Richardson won national titles in championship sprint races at both 500 and 1000 meters Monday. The News & Record doesn't have a proper sports section anymore, or not on Tuesdays at least, but Heather's double speedskating victory is the top story on the first page of today's sports coverage:

I'm glad to support specialized exercising opportunities, since I engage in a fringe sport, but sometimes I simply fail to understand. I do understand wanting to skate with your child, if they're on skates and you are too, and they are skating and not tethered to you.

I'm not sure what seems so great about skating while pushing a stroller. Certainly this is not an experience the child would see as any different, so it is for the parent. That's not bad, as long as it's safe, and that's not up to me to decide. So I support it but don't get it.

Shani Davis showed his speed at all distances this weekend as he won the all around for the U.S. Long Track National Championships in speed skating. In his first 10k (10,000-meter) in two years, he managed second place, seven seconds out. Davis had already won the 1500-meter. Davis hopes to give it a go in Calgary for the World Championships Allround too. But long distances are not easiest for him, he says:

I added a new sidebar section on training and some titles look pretty good, but I did not expect too much when I clicked on the article below from fireengineering.com, but I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, it's a simple introduction, but sometimes that is what we need...simple...not easy...and a reminder that training is how we stay fit, but also how we prepare for a variety of situations, especially athletic events.

Dutch Paralympic medalist Monique van der Vorst can walk again. This year she regained the use of her legs after 13 years of being wheelchair bound, the result of an injury suffered as a teenage field hockey player and complications from a subsequent surgical procedure gone wrong.

Here's a quick interview article with more from the mom than the skater and coach, taken from email and web material as well. Just like going to sit in the stands for a sporting event. You want to know what the athletes are thinking...not the former ones except for maybe the coach...but you hear the parents of course, coaching from the stands and discussing the logistics, because you're not an athlete down there but a spectator up here. Good reason to have an ipod or talk with the person beside you on stereo headset phone calls! :o)

Oohwee! Outdoor ice oval in Halifax for the Canada Games open to the public, weather permitting! Here's a great quick read about the opening of the big ice on Halifax Commons, mainly for a dose of excitement about speed skating from our northern neighbors. Interesting that a guy got elected there without skating for 40 years, and that bike helmets are not allowed on the ice, only ones designed for skating. Interesting. Perhaps it's about the aero shape on the back of the head on lots of helmets? In any case, thank you, Canada, for loving skating so well and thoroughly!

Just in case you want another reason to keep on skating, consider Agatha Van Der Starre's 80th birthday celebration on ice. She did 80 laps with friends to celebrate 80 years. Like many who love various forms of skating, she came to it late in terms of joining the speedskating club. Being from Holland and then Canada, it'd be crazy to think she never skated, but it seems her speedskating started some time around 1980 in a serious way. She medaled at the British Columbia games a couple of years later, and fifteen years after that, still going strong...

Look for the 2011 Carolina Century on 10/22/11. A proven EPIC event. More details to come......most certainly. :-) http://carolinacentury.com

[Ed: Thanks, MikeB, for putting this out there early! From here on out this is roadskater speaking.]

With a bike to skate ratio of 15 to 1 or so...This is a bicycle event designed by roadskater to be compatible with slower or heavier cyclists, fast cyclists looking for a rolling but fast course with few challenging turns and no switchbacks, and experienced roadskaters. The Carolina Century even has a sherpa/domestique who will ride in support of a first-time centurion (or a pack of them). Thanks to John Connor for being the Carolina Century guide. We'll be rolling along near the back to make sure that the rest stops stay open and well stocked.

We've talked about the idea of bonk training before, and I don't claim to know a lot, but know I have done it. Often it was not "breakfast" time, but for various reasons it was still over 6 to 8 hours, sometimes more, since the previous meal. This might have been due to odd work hour schedules or preoccupation with all sorts of things, but sometimes I showed up at the park to skate in a fasted state.

Dale of Cycles de Oro posted this photo link to local some groups . I take it Cannondale bicycle manufacturer is up for sale. Meanwhile, if you like to see where things were made, there's a lot to see here. I think the sale is over so I'm not sure how long these will be up. Boring for some; heaven for others!

Too cold to skate so I've been watching a lot of TV and noticed a young couple singing and clowning around in some car ads. Something about the way they were shown made me think I was supposed to know who they were. It only took one search for "hyundai singing duo" to find out that they were Pomplamoose, multi-instrumentalists Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn who've become YouTube sensations over the past year and a half or so.

While he might want to do a little more research on long track skaters from the Southeastern USA, I am glad to hear that Erik Ducker, 18, is getting ice time and work opportunities to keep him going as he trains to qualify for the USA long track speed skating team. I'd love to share some of that ice time, but I doubt that will happen! I'd need to get some ice speed skates and gasoline to get there of course!

Congratulations to Heather Richardson (from High Point, North Carolina) for a second 1k win in World Cup speedskating! Richardson won yesterday and today in the 1000 meters, and has taken the lead in the World Cup standings for the event as well.

Get ready to cheer for the mouse that roars (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053084/) as Fränk Schleck and Andy Schleck plus former Saxo Bank riders (and others) will be joining them for a super team that looks pretty exciting. Other squads are looking strong, too, especially with some of the recent consolidation of major teams.

There's nothing new about snow, but there might be something refreshing about a traditional news station's website showing a video blissfully void of journalistic interference. How perfect! What better way to depict a 'freshly fallen silent shroud of snow'?

Here's a story about an ice speed skater, Al Schiller, who skated "across the country" for charity. It raises some questions and sparks some thoughts...even some doubts...but is nonetheless interesting and for an important charitable cause. So here are a few thoughts and questions. I'd love to hear your impressions!

It's great that Carley Dryden did such a long and thorough interview. I thought for the most part it was good coverage based on a nice conversation. It is clear she is friendly to the idea and to the skater. My reactions:

I wanted to post a birthday greeting to Northinsouth to say thanks for so many years of roadskating and dreaming we could do more than laps in our beloved Country Park and along the trail up to Bur-Mil. We set our sights on Tour to Tanglewood and Athens to Atlanta when we knew so little about what we were heading for.

Here's one reason to keep street skaters on the road where they belong if they have the skills (just like cyclists who have the skills, and automobilists, too). That way, they can keep an eye on the neighborhood and watch out for the safety of adults who can't control themselves and go out driving around after first buying, then using drugs.

UPDATE 2010.11.24:

THE 2010 Special Reprint Jersey MADE MINIMUMS AND IS A GO.

Orders are OPEN AGAIN and the new Final Final Deadline to order is DECEMBER 3, 2010 AT NOON EST. Delivery does not need to be any later to get this extra time. I just have to get the details to the production staff ahead of the order date.

Everyone is welcome to order.

Get Roadskater.net Skating and Cycling Jerseys in the Colors and Styles You Want:

OK I found this on the Roadskater.net news sidebar. This is just a quick one that mentions inline skating in Germany. If you want to be more miserable, check out the view from the mountain, the inside of the salt mine, and the inline skating on country roads in the forest. Yowee. Sweet views. Makes me miss those NC mountains, too, though they are older and more rounded, in general. Of course, I'd like it if dude would wear a helmet, but I am happy to have someone showing some skating as part of the highlights of visiting a region.

I didn't watch the NYC marathon this year, and the coverage was delayed and compressed I believe anyway on NBC (though for those with Universal Sports I believe it was live over the air free digital television...in Atlanta, for example).

I have one of the 2010 yellow sleeveless jerseys that I would like to trade. I am looking for a medium in any color or style to trade. It has never been worn--I tried it on and felt it was too snug so it was put in the drawer.

[Update 1 from tap135:] I will also sell the jersey if you have no jersey to trade.

Well saturday morning came quickly. After tanglewood i kept telling myself, just loose 10lbs, that will make it a little easier. But with Bobbi being stressed from school and work, the junk food kept coming in and we kept eating out. I have no will power. So with less then 300 miles in over the summer, including tanglewood, I told myself I was going to finish the Carolina Century. I had all my stuff ready, checked my beat up old skates, they seemed to roll alright. Thanks to Blake, I at least had wheels that were half decent.

People that know me know that I don't think twice about popping some ibuprofen ("vitamin i") before, after, and during events. While ibuprofen is generally considered pretty safe, I was curious about any side effects from long-term use, or use during endurance events.

We passed a church about 20 miles in, whose sign spoke brilliantly for the day and our group taking the epic journey: THE HARVEST IS RIPE. BUT THE NUMBERS ARE FEW. What joy in seeing our friends...if for sweet bright flashes only...what flickering sadness in those not there...with a breath cloud of sorrow for some we never quite had time to closely know, who can never be with us again, mixed with happiness to be so lucky to miss them.

For the majority of my past eleven A2As, I have set the goal of enjoying those bizarre 87 miles, to skate to the finish line happily and healthily, and never to be the paceline charity case. This year I fell far short of those ideals.

I planned to skip 2010 A2A to focus on Texas Time Trial. The cycling training went down the toilet because of work. I did the minimum preparation to skate A2A. It’d be another nice skate with friends. I would go hard for 38 miles then stroll to Atlanta like 2009.

I checked the confirmed list and didn’t find the right group to skate with. I was unlikely to have the speed to hang with the chase group for 38 miles. I saw John Charbonneau and Monique on the 52-mile roster and decided to skate with them.

OK I made the 11 number up, and it is just to mock all the titles on health.com and so many websites, including this one sometimes, ha!

Did I say dorky? Why yes, I did, but I only meant that this is how rowlurblayding (rollerblading for you search engines out there) is presented in the little media coverage we get (except maybe that for the Northshore Inline Marathon, which seems to get great, serious, fun stories each year).

Just a quick note here on a project that deserves some skateylove for several reasons. I was poking around looking for a lightweight version of Ubuntu that might also have a live cd so I could try before installing. I looked around at various other flavors of Debian and Linux, I came across the Free High School Science Texts website at http://www.fhsst.org/

This was an usual year for me, as I was more unsure than usual about how well I would do. I didn't feel like I had trained enough, or at least hadn't done enough of the right training. I was a little heavier than I would have liked. I had had a few dissatisfying skates over the summer where I had struggled to complete 60 miles.

Registration is now open at http://CarolinaCentury.com.10 HOURS of SUPPORT for YOUR CENTURY3rd Annual ROADSKATER.NET CAROLINA CENTURYIncluding new METRIC century 64mile/103K21♦31♦51♦64♦72♦82♦102-mile MS Bike Ride/Roadskate Saturday ♦ October 23, 2010 ♦ Greensboro NCRoll up for a leisurely autumnal century with us...or crank it hard & get home early. Please represent your sport with love!

I have had the extraordinary good fortune of riding sections of the Carolina Century. Thanks to more friends than I can name, I broke personal records on both occassions. The first time, not only did I complete 37 miles, but I conquered (slowly) Trashmore Hill. The second go round - I made half a century with 51 miles. On this second ride, I saw the mountains of VA and did not stop on a single hill til the end. This for me is a great accomplishment.

The subject of suitable skate socks crops up occasionally in skate discussion groups. Honestly, I've been trying to replenish my skate-sock supply now for over a year. Whenever I find the perfect pair, that very make and model disappears off the face of the Earth a year or so later when I have worn and washed the life out of the old ones.